“When we spoke to distributors in Western Europe – the main question for them was ‘what kind of sweetener do you use?’ People want sugar-free drinks.”

But as we will learn tomorrow, this does not mean Pranevicius necessarily encourages his clients to reformulate using natural sweetening poster child stevia…

1. ICED TEA INNOVATIONS

AP:“The key sales point is as a refreshing low sugar, low calorie alternative to fizzy drinks. We think the position of sparkling iced tea should be enhanced iced tea flavors with traditional fizzy drink refreshment qualities.

“Iced tea is a rapidly growing category, but we see demand for unique iced teas – for example, we offer sparkling iced tea with, for example, flowers, such as elderflower in the UK.

“We see huge potential for this with demand growing. We have many enquiries daily.

“Spiced iced tea is another unique concept that we are introducing to clients. The main USP is as another intreresting approach to the diet market, low sugar beverages with innovative flavoring solutions, targeting modern consumers willing to try new things and stand out from the crowd.

“Iced tea is not a functional drink, but everyone wants to have a unique product. For our spiced iced tea, we think the target audience should be younger, 16-25. The potential for this product is very big around western Europe”

2. UNIQUE KVASS

AP:“In Lithuania and Latvia, fermented drink Kvass is very popular. But we see a lack of innovation in this product category, so added some taste, blackberries and blueberries, to adapt Russian-style kvass more to Western European tastes.

“We think that Kvass drinks should be positioned close to malt drinks and traditional beverages with known benefits to health.”

“Our companies from eastern Europe understand the taste profile, but our main clients are from Scandinavia, UK, France, Germany.

Could such drinks work in these other countries? Well, it’s always interesting to try and adapt these things between western and eastern Europe.”

3. MORNING DRINKS

AP: “Such drinks have potential to target consumers in need of more energy in the morning or just after waking up. Statistics show that 56% of people in the US and 31% in western Europe claim to have problems sleeping and waking up in morning.”

“We can see a micro niche for these drinks in western Europe. These are not regular, caffeine-based energy drinks, but balanced nutritional supplements with vitamin C, carbohydrates, proteins, minerals and fibers.

“The main idea is to increase the productivity and the instant feeling of wellness. We see potential in this market, but currently there are no numbers to assess how big it is.

“If companies want to invest in this kind of concept, the problem is that it is hard to decide what kind of investment should be made, and the returns one can expect.”

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